Consecration
| rarity = Very Rare | type = Town Enchantment | casting_cost = | upkeep_cost = | research_cost = | effects = All Town Curses are removed from the targeted town. Rivals may not cast any more Town Curses on this town. Some rival Instant Spells and Global Enchantments can no longer have any effect this town either. At the start of each turn, any and all Corrupted tiles within the town's catchment area are automatically Purified. }} Consecration is a Very Rare Town Enchantment belonging to the realm. It may only be cast on the overland map, and must be targeted at a friendly Town. For the base Casting Cost of , Consecration will remove any Town Curses from the target town, and protect it from being targeted by any further Town Curses. It also protects the town from several other negative spells. Finally, at the start of each and every turn, the game will automatically purify any Corrupted tiles within the town's catchment area. The effect lasts as long as you keep paying its Upkeep Cost of per turn, or as long as it is not dispelled or canceled manually. Effects Consecration wraps the town and its environs in a protective blanket of divine energy. This energy drives away all negative magic from the town, protecting it from Town Curses and other maledictions. Though this protection is not absolute, it will generally ensure that rival wizards can no longer hurt the town with magic. Automatic Curse Dispelling When Consecration is cast on any Town, its first action is to immediately and automatically remove all Town Curses currently affecting this town. Town Curses include the Chaos Rift spell from the realm, as well as the Evil Presence, Famine, Cursed Lands and Pestilence spells from the realm. Protection from Spells While Consecration is in effect, several and spells will fail to have any effect if cast on the enchanted town or any units inside it. Any attempt to cast one of the spells listed below on a Consecrated town will result in the spell fizzling, wasting its entire Casting Cost, and having no effect. Town Curses that will fizzle if targeted at a Consecrated town include: * Chaos Rift * Evil Presence * Famine * Cursed Lands * Pestilence Instant Spells that will fizzle if targeted at a Consecrated town or the units inside it include: * Corruption (if targeted directly at the town's tile) * Raise Volcano (if targeted directly at the town's tile) * Fire Storm * Call the Void * Black Wind Furthermore, in terms of global spells, Death Wish will not kill any units garrisoned in a Consecrated town. Neither will Meteor Storm destroy any Town Buildings. Outposts protected by Consecration will also not be destroyed by the latter spell. Automatic Purification At the start of each turn while Consecration is affecting a Town, each and every Corrupted tile within the town's catchment area is automatically Purified. The catchment area is the 5x5 square of tile centered on the town, minus the corners. Volcanoes in the town's vicinity are not removed. Both the Raise Volcano and Armageddon spells may raise volcanoes in any of the surrounding tiles, and they will stay there until naturally reverting to Mountains (as per the rules of these spells). Usage Consecration may only be cast on the overland map, for a basic Casting Cost of . It may be targeted at any friendly Town which does not already have a Consecration spell effecting it. When the spell is cast, the game automatically opens a town-information window showing the contents of the target town. A few moments later, a small blue icon resembling a glowing cross or crosshairs will appear along the bottom of the town view, indicating it is under the influence of this spell. The cross will remain in the town's information screen as long as the spell remains in effect. At the start of each turn, the casting wizard must pay an Upkeep Cost of to keep Consecration active. Failure to pay this cost due to lack of available will cause the spell to dissipate immediately. If you've placed Consecration on a town, you may remove it by examining the town's details and clicking the text reading "Consecration" in the town's Enchantments list. The primary reason to do this would be in order to remove the spell's Upkeep Cost, thus conserving for other spells. While Consecration is in effect, any attempt by a rival to cast an illegal spell on this town will result in an on-screen pop-up message indicating which wizard made the attempt, which spell was attempted, and the fact that it has fizzled with no effect. That spell's caster will have lost all put into casting the spell. Acquisition As a Very Rare spell, Consecration may become available to any Wizard who possesses at least Spellbooks. However, its availability during the game is not guaranteed unless the Wizard acquires at least Spellbooks. Consecration may not be acquired at the start of the campaign regardless of how many Spellbooks the wizard possesses. It must either be Researched during the game, or acquired through other means. Wizards with to Spellbooks have a random chance of being able to Research Consecration during the game. The chance for this spell to appear for research increases with the number of Spellbooks the Wizard possesses or obtains during gameplay. With or Spellbooks, the spell is guaranteed to appear for Research at some point, if it is not already available for casting. Consecration has a base Research Cost of . With at least Spellbooks, the Consecration spell may be acquired as a reward for winning encounters in creature Lairs, Towers, et cetera, or when conquering the Fortress of a rival wizard who has already researched this spell. Strategy Consecration's function is pretty straightforward: defending a Town against rivals wielding or magic who would try to (or already have) cast destructive spells on that town. If no such wizards exist in the game, Consecration may be completely uncalled for. Only the and realms have any spells that would be blocked by Consecration. If you have ample at your disposal, you may also cast Consecration on a town for the sole purpose of clearing out all Corrupted tiles in the town's vicinity instantly. You would only need to maintain the spell for one turn to achieve this, and may then cancel Consecration. Naturally, if Great Wasting is in effect, it may be prudent to keep Consecration in place in order to purify any Corruption that will occur in subsequent turns. Remember that Consecration does not protect a town against Raise Volcano and Armageddon. These spells can and will raise new Volcanoes in the town's vicinity unimpeded, and Consecration does not get rid of these Volcanoes either. Category:Town Enchantments Category:Life